Skylanders: Sacrifice
by CynderFanForever
Summary: Spyro has enjoyed having Cynder back with him, but he still can't shake the fact that she almost killed him back in Convexity. Just as life for them both is returning to normal, Kaos returns once again with a plan to kill Spyro and get Cynder back on the side of evil. Will the Skylanders be able to resist Kaos's power, or will Kaos be able to succeed?
1. Aftermath

**Skylanders: Sacrifice **

**Chapter 1 **

**Aftermath**

Cynder opened her eyes and looked around the room. She was at first scared, remembering the castle she had once been held captive in, but then she noticed that, instead of stone, the walls and floor were made of wood, and she was lying on a bed instead of on a cold, stone floor, and there was the absence of a chain around her neck.

She also noticed a purple dragon lying down in front of her. She smiled, knowing that she was safe as long as she was with the dragon she loved: Spyro.

Spyro turned over and smiled at the sight of Cynder. "Good morning," he whispered softly.

"Good morning," Cynder replied.

_Four days_, Cynder thought. It had been four days since she had been rescued from the clutches of the evil purple dragon known as the Dark Master in the strange realm known as Convexity.

It had all begun when the tiny tyrant Kaos came to the Ruins to extract revenge from the Skylanders because of his defeat the year before.

During that battle, Cynder had been knocked unconscious and then there was a bright flash of light minutes later. Once the light had faded, Spyro and the other Skylanders had realized that Cynder was missing.

From that point on, Spyro and a few of those that trusted Cynder went on a quest to find her. They began at Shattered Island, where two strangers had told Spyro of a large dragon taking Cynder into the Underworld, accompanied by Kaos and a creature that wore a read cloak. Spyro and a few others then ventured into the Underworld and found Kaos and the creature whom they nicknamed the Person in Red. Spyro had defeated Kaos, meanwhile learning that the strangers worked for the large dragon and had given him and the others false information about where Cynder was. Spyro's best friend, Sunburn, fought the Person in Red, along with Sonic Boom, a griffiness whom Sunburn loved, and Spyro's other friends, Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt.

The Person in Red, who later turned out to be only a skeleton, was disintegrated by Sunburn, but it came at the cost of Sonic Boom being injured by the Person in Red's sword.

After she recovered, Spyro set out along with them to Leviathan Lagoon, as Spyro had once saved a dragon guardian there after they were captured by Cynder three years before, back when she had been under the control of the Dark Master. Once there, they learned that the strangers were already there and were going to start a siege the next day. They participated in the siege and during the siege, one of the strangers was killed by the Skylanders' ally and trainer, Cali. Afterward, Spyro, Sunburn, and Sonic Boom raced to a part of Leviathan Lagoon known as the Shrine to stop the last stranger from performing a blood price on the Shrine, which would give him immortality. They were able to stop him, and that stranger was eaten by the Leviathan that roamed the waters of the lagoon.

Then Spyro, Sunburn, and Sonic Boom, along with a couple more of those who trusted Cynder (with the exception of Drobot, who did not trust her), flew toward an island that had a castle on it, which the final stranger had mentioned that it had Cynder, near the realm of Concurrent Skies, where Spyro had once fought her while she was under the Dark Master's corruption.

When they arrived there, they found the castle to be nothing but ruins, and Cynder was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a portal opened, and Spyro and the others went inside.

What they found was a realm that had haunted Spyro's nightmares three years ago: Convexity.

They found the Dark Master himself on an altar with a portal-like thing that was giving him strength, and a large black dragoness that Spyro had wished to never see again…in that form. It was Cynder. Malefor (the Dark Master's true name) had corrupted her once again.

After a large and powerful battle, Spyro released a blast of energy that contained all of the elements he possessed that was strong enough to return Cynder to her normal form. Since the blast had stripped Spyro of most of his strength, Cynder defeated Malefor with a blast of her electricity which had destroyed him. And then Spyro, Cynder, and those that had accompanied Spyro flew back to the Ruins. A celebration was held for Cynder, and then that night, Spyro found Cynder sitting at the Core of Light. She expressed to him her feelings that when the sun came up, reality would set in, and all Cynder would be is a pawn in somebody else's plan. Spyro told her that that would never happen, and that he loved her, and since then, all had been well.

Cynder got up and put on her braces and choker that went on her legs and neck. She went over to the window that lead out of her and Spyro's treehouse.

"Hey, where are you going?" Spyro asked her.

"I'm going to go see Sonic Boom," Cynder answered. "She said yesterday that we can just hang out."

"All right," said Spyro. "But be careful, Cyn. I don't want you to be kidnapped or anything like that."

"You worry too much," she told him. "Let me have some fun, Spyro! I'll see ya later. Love you!"

She flew from the window over to Sunburn and Sonic Boom's treehouse. Spyro sighed; Cynder was back to her old cocky attitude she had had before she was kidnapped by Malefor. He was happy about that, but sometimes that cocky attitude got her into trouble.

As Cynder landed on Sonic Boom and Sunburn's window sill, Sonic Boom greeted her.

"Hey, Cyn, ready to go?" Of all the Skylanders, Sonic Boom was Cynder's best friend.

"Yeah, but what's Sunburn going to do while we're away?" Cynder asked.

"I'm probably going to ask Spyro if he wants to do something," Sunburn answered. He came out of one of the other rooms in the treehouse. "We're probably not going to go flying, but I think we should do something today."

"Why don't you go over to the lava pits?" Cynder suggested. "Those are always fun to see on days like this, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, we can always do that, but we can also go swimming, or, as long as Gill Grunt isn't with us, we can go fishing," Sunburn said.

"Exactly. So Sonic Boom, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go!" Both of them took off through the window. Sunburn watched them and just sighed.

He, too, was glad that Cynder was back to normal. Ever since they had rescued her from Malefor, she had always been a little different from the regular cocky attitude she had once sported. But that had come back as soon as the night after her rescue and then Cynder was back to normal.

Sunburn flew to Spyro and Cynder's treehouse. Spyro was sitting on the windowsill when Sunburn arrived.

"Hey, Sunburn," Spyro said as Sunburn landed on the windowsill right next to him. "Cynder and Sonic Boom just leave?"

"Yeah, and they both seemed very happy. It seems Cynder has her cocky attitude once again."

"Yeah, and that's something that I'm both happy and scared of," Spyro admitted.

"Why are you scared of it?" Sunburn asked him.

"Because that attitude could get her into trouble, you know?"

"Yeah, but with Sonic Boom nearby, then she probably won't. Ah, who am I kidding? They both have the same cocky attitude, and that may mean that they both will get into trouble. Maybe we should go find them and accompany-"

"No," Spyro said firmly, though he was laughing at Sunburn's joke. "I want them to enjoy their little trip. Knowing them, they probably don't want to get into trouble, especially after everything that has happened."

Spyro and Sunburn stood there in silence and both thought whether or not they should go and find Sonic Boom and Cynder.

They finally stopped and both decided to go down to the Core of Light to see if they could learn anything that had happened that day so far.

When they arrived, they both saw Cali and Hex talking to each other.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Spyro.

"It seems that we haven't heard anything from one of our trading partners," Cali answered. "We asked for a shipment of armor in case we have another battle here, but the shipment never came, and it was due yesterday."

"Maybe those who are coming with the shipment have experienced weather conditions and have fallen behind?" Sunburn suggested.

"No, that can't be it," Cali said. "Flynn went through those parts of Skylands yesterday and today and he said that there were no weather conditions. That must mean that they either were stopped and raided and destroyed by pirates or some others, or they just forgot about us, and I hope that only number two is real, because they could have families somewhere in Skylands, you know?"

Spyro and Sunburn nodded. "Maybe we can go over there and check again, just to be sure," suggested Spyro. "What do you say?"

"No, we need you here for right now," Cali told him. "As you know, we went into the Underworld and took Kaos out of the cavern you and Hex left him in." Spyro nodded. "Well, when we banished him back to the Outlands, he swore that he would return once again to extract his revenge."

"Really?" asked Sunburn. "That's a bit far-fetched, even for him."

"Yes, but he could try to come back and extract his revenge, you know? So that's why we ordered the armor. But until we get the armor or find out what happened to the ship, then we'll have to deal with what we have now. We should also be ready to prepare for battle if it does come to that. Do you understand?"

"I do," said Spyro.

"So do I," said Sunburn.

"Good. I hope that you both have a good rest of the day." Cali walked away.

"Why is she like that all of a sudden?" Sunburn asked.

"It's got something to do with Cynder's kidnapping," Hex answered. "She's even gone so far as to blame herself for the entire incident."

"But that's preposterous! If anybody should blame themselves, it should be me!" blurted Spyro.

"Well, Cali hasn't been right lately, even before the incident. She seemed tired and stressed months before it all happened. I wish I knew why."

"Maybe we can ask Stealth Elf? She's pretty much Cali's second-in-command when it comes to healing a person."

"I'll ask her tonight. But for now, I'm going to go see if Whirlwind needs help with anything. She asked me yesterday for some help with something, but I wasn't able to do much yesterday, as I was kind of helping Cali out."

"Okay," said Sunburn. "I think me and Spyro are going to go do something. Maybe we should bring Camo along with us, what do you think, Spyro?"

Spyro nodded. Hex went away. "What are we going to do?" he questioned.

"I think we should pay a visit to the Underworld. Remember how you left Kaos down there?" Spyro nodded. "We should go down there to see if he left anything that one of his army could use against us. After all, he probably has a whole army of skeletons and spiders down there."

"Yeah. We should go find Whirlwind and Camo now."

"What do you need?" asked a voice from behind. Camo entered Spyro and Sunburn's point of view.

"Do you want to come with us down into the Underworld to check for something?" Sunburn asked.

"Sure. I wouldn't mind that," Camo said. "Either way, I wanna talk to you guys."

They began making their way down to the beach where the gate to the Underworld was. Spyro looked over to Camo.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked.

"I wanna tell you that I really admire what you did when Cynder was taken away. Unlike some, you never gave up hope, and that amazes me."

Spyro felt embarrassed. "Erm…thanks. I just couldn't give up on her. I love her too much. If I had just let her die, then you wouldn't be seeing me around right now."

They stopped walking. They had reached the gates that led into the Underworld. Now they just needed T-Bone, who was the only one who could open up the gates without anything happening to them.

"So ya need me again?" asked a voice. T-Bone came into view. "I'll help in any way I can."

"Good, because we need to get in there," Sunburn told him.

"Why? Was somebody else kidnapped or something?" the skeleton inquired.

"No, no one was kidnapped. We just need to get in there," Spyro explained.

"Fine. I'll allow you. But make sure that you bring no spiders back with you. If you do, they'll just steal my bones."

He opened the gates, and Spyro, Sunburn, and Camo entered. The gates closed, leaving them in semi-darkness. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust.

"So where do we look?" asked Camo.

"Where me and Kaos last fought," Spyro answered. "It'd make the most sense."

"I guess you're right. Me and the others were battling the Person in Red at the time, so I wouldn't know," Sunburn said.

Spyro led them through a tunnel, and then through another. They had reached their destination.

"Here we are," Spyro announced.

Spyro looked around and didn't see anything, and then saw a black rectangle up on a pedastal.

Spyro went over to it and jumped up on it.

"What is it, Spyro?" asked Sunburn.

"You guys should come see this," Spyro told them.

They jumped up on the pedastal. They saw the black rectangle and realized that it was some sort of device.

"What is it?" Camo said.

Spyro saw a symbol on the device that looked a little like a map. He touched it carefully with his claw, and then a grid popped up.

The grid showed a map, and on the map were three red dots. One pointed to the Outlands, another pointed to where they were now, and another pointed to the forest just outside of the Ruins- exactly where Cynder and Sonic Boom were now. Spyro's eyes widened. This was a teleportation device. And there were three of them in Skylands.

"Oh crap," he whispered. "Come on, we have to go warn everyone!" As he ran back to the entrance, Sunburn and Camo followed after him.

As he ran, Spyro realized something: There was going to be another battle.


	2. A New Worry

**Chapter 2**

**A New Worry**

Sonic Boom walked alongside Cynder, who out of all the Skylanders was her best friend.

They had decided to just go for a walk instead of a flight, and Cynder had been silent the whole time.

"Hey Cyn, what's bothering you?" she asked.

"What? Oh, nothing's bothering me," Cynder said.

"You know I'm not going to take that for an answer, Cyn. I know you well enough to tell when you're lying," Sonic Boom told her.

Cynder sighed.

"If you really want to know, then here it goes. That night, after we'd returned to the Ruins, I couldn't sleep, and so I just went to the Core of Light so I could just get some fresh air and think. Soon after, Spyro found me."

"What happened?"

"We began to talk. We talked about how we had both seen that shadow fall over the water just before the bright light and my kidnapping. I told him that I was stupid to not have realized that it had been Malefor's shadow, as I had seen it so much when I was under his control. But it was a crazy thought, as Hex had told me of her backstory, and after hearing that, I had thought Malefor to be dead. I even had suspicions of who the dark figure was when I was his prisoner. Then I began to cry. I told him that I could've warned everyone, that I was just so stupid to have let Malefor take me, that I made him go through so much just to find and save me. He told me that it was nothing to be ashamed of. Then I told him that, when the sun comes up, I would feel that all I'll ever be is a pawn in someone else's plan. Spyro finally said that I would never be a pawn in someone's plan ever again, because he loves me so much, and then he said he would never let anything like that happen ever again. Afterward, we both said 'I love you' to each other and went to sleep."

Sonic Boom could see tears streaming down Cynder's face. She put a wing over her and hugged her.

"It's okay, Cyn," she comforted. "It's all okay."

Cynder looked up at her friend and smiled. "Thanks," she said. Tears shone in her baby-blue eyes.

Sonic Boom smiled. Silence fell around them both. They could hear nothing but the sounds of nature: birds chirping, the sound of a rushing river nearby, and the rustling noise small animals make when they run around. Finally Sonic Boom broke the silence.

"Well, I'm just glad that everything is back to normal now," she said.

"I agree with you there," Cynder replied. "Nothing can stop me from living the rest of my life in peace now."

They both laughed, and to Cynder, it felt good to laugh again. She hadn't laughed like this for a while.

Just as their laughter died down, they heard a deep voice cut through the air.

"Come on! We need to get to the rendezvous before he gets there," the voice said. "The device should begin working soon."

Both Cynder and Sonic Boom were both curious. The made their way over to a couple of trees, hiding behind the large trunks, and peered around it. There was an ogre leading two trolls to a space in the middle of a clearing. The ogre was much larger than the trolls. The trolls only came up to Cynder's height, while the ogre was as tall as Slam Bam, a yeti that was one of the Water Skylanders. The ogre was the ugliest of them all, with dark green skin and horns protruding from the top of his head. The creature's eyes were dark black.

The trolls, meanwhile, were the normal green color. They had long noses and were very thin. They also sported large, droopy ears. Both trolls held wrenches in their hands.

Cynder saw in the middle of a clearing a black box-shaped thing. It looked to be a type of device.

She looked over at Sonic Boom, who looked back at her. Both of them were curious and wondered what the heck the black box was and if it could be dangerous and used in any way against them.

The ogre stopped in front of it, kneeled down on his knees, and pressed what seemed to be a button. There was a small _beep _and then a blue light appeared in the clearing. When the light cleared, standing there in the middle of the clearing and in front of the ogre and trolls was Kaos.

"I have returned!" he declared. "It feels so good to have escaped the Outlands. They are such a terrible place to be. But anyway, I must know, is the entire plan ready?"

"It is," growled the ogre. "All devices have been activated. Now you must summon the creatures you want to begin the battle with. Who shall you choose?"

"Well, as you can probably guess, I will choose you three. But I need about twenty more. I found some followers in the Outlands, and they are waiting now to be transported. There were fifteen of them. The others are around here in the forest, and I must call them now." There was silence for a second, and then Kaos called out, "Come out, my brethren! The time has come to rid ourselves of the Skylanders!" There were loud hoots and yells echoing all around them as soon as he had finished saying that. Cynder and Sonic Boom hid as much as they could behind the trees, hoping that none of the creatures would be coming their way. Luckily for them, Cynder's scale color and Sonic Boom's feather color blended in with the shadows created by the large trees. They would not be seen easily by any of the mercenaries that Kaos had just suddenly summoned.

The creatures rushed through the bushes and swung from vines hidden in the high canopies of the trees. Among the many types of creatures were trolls, snakes, stone golems, lava monsters, elves, spiders, and death hounds. All of them were known by the Skylanders to be very dangerous and to take caution when anywhere near them. Both Cynder and Sonic Boom knew to be very quiet.

They all quieted down as Kaos cleared his throat.

"Welcome, my brethren! I am so glad you could make it!" he began. "It is now that I begin my speech. As you know, one year ago I hatched my plan to destroy the Core of Light, and that plan did succeed. But then the accursed Skylanders had to come and they began finding the Elemental Sources. Once they had found them all, they repaired the Core of Light and traveled to find me at my lair. They found me and so began a large and stressful battle. I fought back as hard as I could, with my minions that appeared as dark versions of the Skylanders and also my Hydra, which spat out four of the eight elements they possessed from its four heads. But the Skylanders were somehow able to succeed in defeating not only the Hydra and my minions, but also me! They took me back to the Ruins and used the new Core of Light to banish me to Earth. Luckily, with the help of my new master, I escaped and was employed by him. First we traveled to the Ruins, where we fought the Skylanders. The battle ended with us taking one of their best, Cynder. But alas, Spyro the Dragon could not stop himself from performing a search party for the dumb black dragoness. He traveled to Shattered Island, where by my master's orders he was supplied with false information of the whereabouts of his precious black dragoness. The information he was given told him that Cynder had been taken into the Underworld. He traveled down there and found me and another one of my new master's soldiers. Unluckily, he defeated that soldier, as well as incinerating him, from what I heard, and then he defeated me. I do not know much of what happened next, but I do know that he participated in a battle with the strangers who had given him the false information that ended with them both being killed. From what I also heard, he found Cynder and my master and after a large battle he destroyed my master and got Cynder back. That all is why I have decided to extract my revenge from the Skylanders. After all, they defeated me, humiliated me, and then exiled me back to the God-forsaken Outlands! What shall happen now, you ask? Why, we will march to the Ruins and show those Skylanders that they are no match for Kaos and his army! Now, who's with me?" At this, the soldiers bellowed their agreement. Kaos turned towards the ogre and nodded. The ogre knew what he meant, and then he bent down and pressed one of the buttons on the box-shaped device. A bright blue portal appeared and fifteen ugly creatures appeared, all holding weapons. They were the other mercenaries. The ones Kaos had gotten in the Outlands. Kaos turned to the way Cynder and Sonic Boom had come and marched towards the Ruins. The small army behind him began to chant.

When they had disappeared from sight, Cynder and Sonic Boom got out of their hiding spots. Fear was evident in their eyes and faces.

"We need to get back to the Ruins now!" Cynder exclaimed. "We have to tell everyone!"

"I know, but how will we get back the Ruins before Kaos and them get there, Cyn? There's no way," Sonic Boom told her.

"You may believe that, but I don't. We have wings. We can fly back to Ruins before Kaos and his army get there," Cynder explained. "But we'll have to hurry. Now come on!"

Cynder opened her wings and jumped into the air. She flew as fast as she could towards the Ruins. She heard Sonic Boom behind her, flapping her wings wildly.

The Ruins were in sight soon, but Cynder still had to hurry if she was to get there before Kaos and his army.

"Come on, we have to hurry up!" Cynder shouted. Her nerves were on the edge. She flapped her wings even more wildly. She just had to make it to the Ruins before the little tyrant.

As she flew faster and faster towards the Ruins, Cynder suddenly realized something that sent shivers down her spine: There would be another battle.


	3. Preparations

**Chapter 3 **

**Preparations**

Spyro knew how much trouble that was coming. He knew where they would be coming from, too. But what he did not know was if the rest of the Skylanders were ready for another battle. And Spyro couldn't blame them.

After all, the last battle had ended with one of their own being kidnapped. If he told them about this battle, how would they react?

Another thing he hoped was that Cynder and Sonic Boom were safe. One of the portal locations was near where they had decided to fly.

Shaking that thought out of his mind, he thought back to what he was doing at that moment.

He, Sunburn, and Camo were hurrying as fast as they could out of the Underworld. The other two had already seen the portal device. They all looked ahead of them and saw the exit. Spyro hoped T-Bone hadn't walked away.

But as they neared it, the door suddenly opened and bright light appeared. It took them a moment for their eyes to adjust, as the Underworld had been very dark. They ran out on to the beach and made their way back to where the Core stood.

Cali stood there, just looking at the Core silently. As they ran up, she turned around and looked at them with worry. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"We found a portal device down there in the Underworld that we believe Kaos is using to return," Sunburn explained, trying to catch his breath.

"Really? What do we need to do?"

"That I am uncertain of at this very moment," said Spyro, "but when I pressed a grid button on that device, it showed that there were two other such devices. One was in the Outlands, where we banished Kaos, and another was in the forest, close to where Cynder and Sonic Boom had decided to go fly."

"So that means we need to find them soon, before Kaos returns and before he and, as I am sure of it, his army get here to the Ruins. We need to make sure they're okay," Cali said.

"Spyro!" yelled a voice. Spyro looked around, but then realized that the voice had come from above. He looked up and saw Cynder and Sonic Boom. "Spyro, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" he asked as they landed.

"Me and Sonic Boom were walking out in the forest when we saw this big flash of blue light," she began. "We went to investigate and saw Kaos and a couple of followers. He called a few other followers out from the forest and told them that they were going to attack the Ruins and destroy the Skylanders."

"Well, it's funny you should say that," he told her.

"What do you mean?" she said.

"Me, Sunburn, and Camo ventured into the Underworld to see if Kaos had left something that his army could use against us, and as it turns out, he left a portal-like device down there. I also pressed a button on it and it showed that there were two others: one in the Outlands, where Kaos was banished, and one in the forest where, I guess, you and Sonic Boom decided to walk. When you saw that blue light and saw Kaos, he must've used that portal device. And since there are three of them, he can put mercenaries from the Outlands in the forest or in the Underworld. Now that we know all this, we're ready for a battle. Kaos probably isn't expecting us to know so much. Now what we must do is prepare ourselves for this battle. All of us must help out. Come on! There's a battle coming!"

All the Skylanders who had gathered around them or had just heard what Spyro had said now bustled around and began asking what to do.

"Make any defense you can. Use your specific elements to help. Sunburn, make a fire wall down by the beach so that no boats try to get over here. If they do, they'll be incinerated. Cyn, use your electricity on the fence. If anyone tries to touch, they'll be toast."

Sunburn nodded. He jumped into the air and flew across the shore. A large wall of fire appeared. The waves would not make the flames die out, as Phoenix fire was different from all other flames and could not easily be blown out.

Cynder went over to the fence and with all her might breathed a crackling torrent of purple electricity at the fence and the metal of the gate. High-voltage currents now ran through it. Now only Cynder could touch the gate. If anyone else tried, they would be dead in an instant.

Spyro, Stealth Elf, Sonic Boom, Bash, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy were putting up elemental defenses around the Core. Cynder and Sunburn joined them, and soon the Core was protected by all of the eight main elements. It would be hard for anyone to break through the defenses.

But they were still not done. Kaos and his army would arrive shortly, and they had much left to do.

Stealth Elf began sharpening her dragon-fang daggers. The daggers were so sharp that they could cut through most types of steel, and since dragon fangs were poisonous to some creatures, such as yetis, they were very useful.

Spyro went over to Cynder. He knew that she was worried, as was he. It had only been four days since the horrifying battle between them and Malefor. Four days was not much.

She suddenly hugged him tightly. He looked down at her front right paw. It had been twisted while she was trying to escape from the Dark Master and was now bandaged up.

"It's just been so soon…" he began, but she cut him off.

"Now is not the time for that," she said softly. "We have to stay strong against Kaos, or else he will defeat us and probably destroy the Core of Light once more. We cannot let that happen!"

He nodded; she was right. He knew that most of the Skylanders would not give up without a fight and almost all of them would die to save both the Ruins and all of Skylands. Cynder was definitely among those Skylanders.

Whirlwind came running up to them. "We've set some defenses around the gate to the Underworld," she said. "The only problem is, how do we know if the defenses are enough?"

"I'll come down there to check them," Spyro told her. He left and made his way down to the beach.

Whirlwind looked at Cynder. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm okay, but I wish we didn't have to fight again so soon."

"I know, right? It's only been four days since all of that happened, and we know you were the most affected by it all. But just don't worry, we will all get through this battle, you can trust me."

Spyro came back over to them. "The defenses look good," he said to Whirlwind.

"Okay, thanks!" Whirlwind left.

Spyro got closer to Cynder. "Cyn, the only thing I fear about this battle is that I don't have really any elemental strength in my body. I used most of it up during the final battle with Malefor. I used most of the energy in my body to set up the defenses for the Core, but that won't help me when I'm in battle with Kaos and the rest of his forces. What can I do?"

"I'll be helping you as much as I can. In the meantime, try to regain the elemental ability. Now, have we set defenses to everything?"

"I believe so. Now all we have to do is wait for Kaos to show himself, and then we can begin the battle."

Cynder sighed. "I hope that after this it all will be over," she admitted to him.

"I agree with you there," he said. "I don't want to be in another battle for a while after this. If I'm in another battle, I'll really have to just stop fighting for the rest of my life."

"Now, don't say that," Cynder told him. "Know that no matter how much you fight, you're always fighting for something or for someone. Just remember that."

Spyro nodded.

Suddenly, a loud cry split through the air. "Soldier!" it cried. Spyro and Cynder looked at each other and then ran over to the fence. Sonic Boom was the one who had yelled out. And sure enough, there was a soldier standing there in front of the gate.

He wore a black cloak with the symbol of Kaos on it: the four heads of the Hydra, a snake/dragon-like creature that possessed the four main elements: Undead, Fire, Water, and Life.

"What do you want?" Spyro asked the soldier.

"I have come to give a message to you from Kaos," the soldier explained. "He says thus: 'I have hereby decided to battle the Skylanders today. I will not allow anyone to stand in my way, and if anyone does oppose me, you shall be destroyed. Signed, Kaos, supreme master of all Skylands.'" The soldier stopped speaking.

Silence settled over all the Skylanders for a moment. Then Cynder finally broke the silence.

"If it's a fight he wants," she said, "we might as well give him what he wants."

The other Skylanders cheered at that. They were going to fight back, and not one person was going to stop them from doing so. Kaos would not win or destroy the Ruins. They would fight back with all that they had.

"That 'tis your choice, evil black dragoness," the soldier rasped. "All of you shall die, and it will all be because of her." He pointed a long, bony finger at Cynder. "Do any of you realize that?"

"Ha-ha," laughed Cynder. "Ain't that a piece of crap. Look, just go back to that idiot Kaos and tell him it's no good to try and take the Ruins over. If he tries, then all he'll succeed in doing is failing. And I'm sure as heck that he doesn't want to fail."

The soldier shook with rage. "Why you little black-" he began, but stopped when Cynder spat a current of purple electricity at him. Now in fear, he ran for his life into the woods surrounding the Ruins. They Skylanders cheered once more as the soldier fled.

"All right, back to the preparations!" Spyro ordered. The Skylanders then went back to what they had been doing before the soldier appeared.

Spyro turned to Cynder. "What you said was great. You've given hope to us all, I think." As Slam Bam, a large blue yeti that trusted Cynder the least of all the Skylanders, passed by with a grimace on his face, Spyro put in, "Well, you've given hope to almost all of us." He laughed.

Cynder laughed too. But they both knew that soon they would be fighting again, and neither could shake the fact that they could lose the battle. They didn't say anything about that, as they didn't want to alarm any of the others.

Meanwhile, the soldier bounded back through the forest to where Kaos and the rest of his army were camped. Kaos stood by a pit he himself had dug.

"What do you want?" Kaos asked.

"Sir, the Skylanders won't be giving up the Ruins without a fight," the soldier reported. "That black dragoness told me so herself. She is not as weak as you had told me, Kaos. Why is that?"

"Are you questioning me?" Kaos demanded.

"No, I'm just asking."

"Well, if you must know, she must be getting stronger. She must be forgetting about her captivity. If this is true, she will be a hard-to-beat opponent. We must attack now. Are the Skylanders preparing weapons or something?"

"I believe they are."

"Crap. If they are, then they obviously knew we were coming. One of them must have been out here in the forest when I called you all together. Now that they know we're coming, we must fight back with all that we've got! We must take Skylands, and to do that, we must destroy the Ruins, and most of all, the Skylanders. Now, who's with me?" Kaos's army cheered.

"And now what shall you do to me, master?" asked the soldier.

As if to answer, Kaos took a sword out of its sheath on his right him and stabbed the soldier in the chest. The soldier sputtered, then stumbled forward. As he stumbled, Kaos held out his left foot. The soldier tripped over the foot and fell into the pit in front of him. Inside the pit were stakes. If the soldier hadn't been dead by the time Kaos had tripped him, then he was most certainly dead now.

Kaos looked at his army. "Now is the time we take the Ruins! March towards the Ruins, now!"

His army marched towards the Ruins. Kaos hurried in front of them and sent twenty of them alone to the front gates. There were still over four hundred left, and even when those twenty were dead, there would still be more to come.

Back at the Ruins, the Skylanders were almost done preparing themselves for the next battle. Spyro walked around, Cynder by his side, and watched as Ignitor and Chop Chop pranced around a ring in the grass made by Chop Chop himself. The two were sparring, readying themselves for the to-come battle.

Stealth Elf was talking to Cali. At the moment, Stealth Elf's dragon-fang daggers were sheathed, but she could whip them out at any moment at the first sight of danger.

"What's going on?" Cynder inquired.

"Well, now that there will be another battle, I'm kind of afraid about it," Cali explained. "The last time we had a battle, you went missing, Cynder, and I really hope that doesn't happen again."

"Don't worry," said Spyro. "I'll make sure that she isn't kidnapped. I'll be sure to be by her side through most of the battle. When I'm not there, I'm sure either Whirlwind, Sunburn, or Sonic Boom will be there at her side. You have my word, Cali. There's no need to worry."

"That's what you think, Spyro, but how do you know that what you're saying is true?" Cali snapped. "There is the chance that either you or they could be separated from Cynder in the heat of the battle. Do you really wish for that to happen?"

"No, I don't, and I'm sure that it won't happen. Can't you just believe me, Cali?"

Cali peered at him, then walked away.

"What's wrong with her?" Cynder asked Stealth Elf. "She's been acting very strangely lately."

"I'm not exactly sure," Stealth Elf admitted. "She's still upset about your kidnapping, and she's also gone as far as saying it's her fault that you were kidnapped. It may sound crazy, but it's true. I will do my best to make sure you aren't kidnapped again, Cynder, trust me. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go find Cali and do my best to calm her down. Then I'll find you before the battle begins."

When Stealth Elf was gone, Cynder turned to Spyro.

"Does Cali really blame herself for my kidnapping?" she asked him.

He nodded. "I don't know why. I wish I did."

They made their way over to where Sunburn, Sonic Boom, Camo, and Whirlwind stood. They were huddled, but when Spyro and Cynder approached, they broke up.

"Spyro, do you think we should find some armor and begin putting it on?" Sunburn asked.

"I do." Spyro looked at his best friend. "I don't know why there has to be another battle so soon after the last one. It just doesn't seem right. After all, the last one left us all feeling differently and with scars, both physically and mentally. We all deserve some rest, especially after what happened back in Convexity. Out of us all, Cynder deserves the most rest, especially after all the crap she's gone through. But it seems we aren't going to be allowed any rest, not as long as a threat like Kaos is around. We need to win this upcoming battle, and we need to win it without any casualties. The last battle left us all with a few scars, and that's usual. As far as I know, this battle probably won't give us as many scars. One of the good things that will be coming out of this will be Kaos being defeated once and for all. After this, he will no longer bother us again. After this, we can just rest and have perfectly normal lives. Now comes the real question: Are you guys with me?"

They all nodded.

"I'm with you because you're my best friend, and best friends never leave others to do all the work themselves," Sunburn said.

"I'm with you because I've always trusted you and I admired your determination to win all the battles we've gone through," Sonic Boom explained.

"I'm with you because you've been a great leader and you never give up, no matter what the heck happens," Whirlwind explained.

"I'm with you because I've always admired your determination and the fact that when things seem dim to us, you always see hope," Camo explained.

Then Cynder moved closer to him. "I'm with you because of all that they said, and also, because I love you." She kissed him on the lips.

She smiled at him and he smiled at her. It seemed that this was the calm before the storm, and this was the perfect way for the calm to end.

Because that was when the calm did end.

A horn could be heard in the distance. Spyro knew that Kaos and his army were coming. And this time, he and the Skylanders were ready. Spyro began to give the orders.

"All Skylanders, line up behind the captain of your element! Magic, you're with me, Undead are with Cynder, Air are with Sonic Boom, Fire are with Sunburn, Water are with Gill Grunt, Tech are with Trigger Happy, Life are with Stealth Elf, and Earth are with Bash."

As soon as he had finished, the sounds of the horn were getting closer. All the Skylanders were in their specific element line. Just seconds before Spyro had called out to line up, they had finished their preparations. All of them were ready for battle.

Spyro and Cynder stood next to each other. They looked at each other for a moment, then looked at the gate. The creatures were almost there.

Spyro drew upon his energy, looked at the gate, and let it open. The creatures suddenly appeared at the edge of the forest, weapons in hand. There were trolls, ogres, stone golems, and Shadow Knights. One Shadow Knight, seemingly the leader of the creatures, pointed his sword at Spyro's chest and said, "Welcome to the end!" The voice was deep and clear.

Spyro smiled at that, and then he said to all the Skylanders, "I don't think so." The Shadow Knight laughed, and Spyro roared, "SKYLANDERS, ATTACK!"

And then the Skylanders charged at the creatures.

The battle had begun.


	4. First Forces

**Chapter 4**

**The First Forces**

Cynder ran at the creatures in front of her. She spat electricity at one of the soldiers. The attack stunned the soldier, but didn't kill him. To finish him off, Cynder used the blade on her tail to behead the soldier. Ignoring the blood that hit her face, she looked over to Spyro, who was doing a melee on one of the Shadow Knights.

"Are you doing okay?" she asked him as he finished the creature off.

He nodded. Spyro seemed to be out of breath and Cynder knew it was harder for him to fight without his elemental abilities. She had to help him, or his body would give out and the enemies would overrun and kill him.

"I'm not strong enough, Cyn," he told her. "I don't have any of my elemental powers left. It's really taking a toll on me."

"Just stay close to me, I'll help you get through it," she told him. Then she kissed him. "Just for good luck," she added with a smile.

He smiled back, and then they went back to the battle. Out of the corner of her eye, Cynder saw Whirlwind and Camo blasting the soldiers with their own respective attacks: Whirlwind shot a Tempest Cloud, which shot out a cloud and released electricity that electrocuted the nearby enemies. Camo shot out a Sun Burst, a blast of concentrated life energy in the form of a tiny sun. Both attacks disposed the enemies quickly. Whirlwind flew over to Cynder.

"You doing okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, but Spyro's giving out. After the battle with Malefor, he lost most of his elemental power, and now he can only fight enemies with his normal attacks, like his horns and mêlée abilities," Cynder explained.

"Crap, that's not good," said Whirlwind. "We need to make sure that none of the enemies get to close to him."

"That's what I was thinking. I just hope this battle will end soon. Then again, the battle won't end unless we defeat Kaos, and so far he hasn't appeared. We'll need him if we are to win!"

Whirlwind nodded.

"Where's Sonic Boom, by the way?"

"She's down by the beach, helping Sunburn against some Shadow Knights. Why do you ask?"

Cynder looked over at Spyro, then leaned to Whirlwind and whispered, "I need to go talk to Sonic Boom. Keep an eye on Spyro for me, please."

Whirlwind winked at her. Cynder, taking one last look back at Spyro, flew to the beach, where she saw Sonic Boom blasting sound-waves at one of the Shadow Knights. Sunburn was blasting flames at them. Though they didn't hit them, the flames did cause them to run into the wall of Phoenix fire. The Shadow Knights were suddenly incinerated, nothing left behind.

"Cynder!" Sonic Boom yelled out when she saw Cynder rushing towards them. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Cynder answered. "I had to come see if you guys needed help."

"We're good for right now," Sunburn told her. "Where in the heck is Spyro?"

"Whirlwind is looking over him. I know that she'll make sure he won't get into anything he can't handle."

Suddenly a large green troll appeared before them and Cynder knew she had to be careful. The last time she had fought in a battle like this, she had been knocked unconscious by a troll and kidnapped by Malefor. She didn't want that to happen again, especially since Spyro had gone through so much crap to save her.

"This is where it ends for you, troll!" Cynder hissed. She leapt forward and clawed the troll's chest. The troll, not even realizing what had just happened, crumpled to the ground, dead.

"Nice job!" complimented Sunburn. He gave Cynder a smile. "But there are still many more coming."

"I know, and because of that, we have to be on the edge. I can't wait until this battle ends."

"You and me both. But it won't end until Kaos appears. And when he does, I'm gonna be the one to end him. He deserves to be defeated, especially since he was part of Malefor's army and was the reason I was kidnapped to begin with!" Flames danced in Cynder's eyes.

Sunburn spat Phoenix flame at another soldier. Just before the soldier died, however, they threw a blade at him. It sunk into his left wing. Blood dripped from the wound and he grimaced. Sonic Boom ran over to him and started trying to stop the bleeding. That was when Cali appeared. She was battling a Shadow Knight with her staff. The Shadow Knight hit the staff with his sword but the magic in the staff caused the sword to make no damage in the wood.

Cali jabbed the staff into the Shadow Knight's chest. The armor of the Shadow Knight suddenly broke apart and to finish it off, Cali jabbed the staff into the chest of the Shadow Knight once more, and the Shadow Knight fell to the ground.

She looked over to where Cynder, Sonic Boom, and Sunburn stood and saw Sunburn's wound.

"What happened?" she asked.

"One of the soldiers threw a knife as I finished him off and it got me in the wing," Sunburn explained. "Don't worry, it isn't that bad." But as he finished saying that, he gave a yell of pain.

"Well, when this battle is over, we'll have to mend that wound. For right now, you'll need to deal with the wound," Cali explained to him.

"I understand. Hopefully this battle ends soon. It didn't need to start to begin with, you know?"

All of them nodded. Cynder thought, _If this happened to him, then it could happen to Spyro! I need to get back to him!_

Cynder took a look at Sunburn, then opened her wings and flew back to where she had left Whirlwind and Spyro. They were still fighting hard. Spyro had a tear in his right wings, and Whirlwind had a small scar across the left side of her face.

"How's it going?" Cynder asked Whirlwind. "I see that both of you have some wounds. What happened to you guys?"

"Spyro was battling a troll and the troll's spear cut through his wing. I was battling a troll and its sword gave me a scar here. But Spyro's wound isn't that bad, I already checked it out. It may have gone through his wing, but it missed most of the vital membranes," Whirlwind explained.

"Thank the Lord. I need to find Kaos soon! You need to help me."

"I know. Wherever that little piece of crap is, he deserves to be defeated. He has put this stress on all of us, especially you and Spyro. You both deserved a break from all the crap you two had gone through, and more you than him."

Cynder nodded. She saw that some of the soldiers were ganging up on the other Skylanders. She had to do something before one of them was overrun and killed. And all while keeping an eye on Spyro so he wasn't killed.

She knew what she had to do.

Cynder drew upon all her strength, feeling the energy rush through her body. She closed her eyes, and opened her jaws and let loose a deep, guttural roar. The roar scared all the soldiers within close proximity, grouping them together and allowing the other Skylanders to finish them off. Now only a few of Kaos's soldiers remained. And the lucky thing was that none of them were very dangerous. All that were left were two Shadow Knights and a band of trolls that seemed to be have been very frightened by her roar.

"Nice job, Cyn!" complimented Sonic Boom, who had come up from the beach. Sunburn stood next to her, blood still dripping from his wound.

Cynder smiled grimly. She had never wanted to use that roar again, as it had been the one she'd used while under Malefor's control. She wondered if Spyro remembered that and how he felt about it.

She looked over to him. He too was smiling grimly. Cynder realized with a pang of guilt that he knew.

She shook her head and went over to the Shadow Knights and the band of trolls. They were all cowering as she moved toward them. One of the Shadow Knights attempted to defend himself.

"Please," he pleaded. "Show some mercy, will you?"

"In what way can I show mercy when you have done nothing but wage war against and us and try to kill us?" Cynder shot back.

The soldier knew she was right.

"Cynder, don't kill them all," Cali said behind her. "We need at least one of them so they can tell us what Kaos has in mind for this battle."

Cynder nodded and then released a fury of energy. It killed all but one of the trolls. The troll was still cowering in fear. Stealth Elf came up from behind the troll and restrained his hands.

"What will you do with me now?" shrieked the troll. "Are you going to torture me? Are you going to eat out my insides and feed the rest to the vultures? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH ME! TELL ME, PLEASE!"

Stealth Elf led him away, Cali not far behind them.

Spyro came over to Cynder and put his head on her shoulder. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Okay, I guess," she replied. "I saw your expression after I roared. Did you realize that it had been the roar I'd used while under Malefor's corruption?"

"Yes, I did," he admitted. "But I can't exactly blame you. You just wanted this battle to end. Nobody can really blame you for a thing like that."

She nodded. She knew that Spyro was wounded, and he would have to get the wound checked out.

She led him over to the healing tent. Cali seemed to be the one running it. _Stealth Elf must be interrogating the troll,_ Cynder thought to herself.

"Are you wounded?" Cali asked Cynder.

"No, I'm not, but Spyro is," Cynder told her. "He got hit in the wing by a troll's spear. I didn't even think the trolls used spears. Usually they use wrenches."

"Seems that they're upgrading their weaponry."

"Yeah, and that's not exactly a very good thing. Soon they might be able to overrun us. We can't allow them to do this. If one Skylander fails, the rest of us, might as well give up."

"I wouldn't say that," Cali told her. "Even if one us does die, we can still keep going on and mourn them afterward. Never give up, Cynder."

Cynder smiled and nodded. Then she turned back to Spyro and examined the wound. A little blood was dripping from it. Seeing this, she turned back to Cali.

"This needs to get patched up. Can you do it before Kaos send any more soldiers our way?"

"I can, but it'll be hard. For all we know, he could be sending them as we speak. Of course, I hope that isn't the truth." She turned to the other the Skylanders. "Is there anyone else injured?"

Whirlwind raised her paw. "I have a scar on my cheek, given to me by one of those trolls with spears. I don't think I need to get it patched up, it stopped bleeding some time ago."

Cali nodded. Sunburn also came up to her, his wound still bleeding and paining him terribly.

Spyro turned to the Skylanders when Cali finished.

"We have defeated the first forces of Kaos's army," he announced. "But there are still many left, as Cynder and Sonic Boom have seen the whole army themselves. From what they told me, the army is large. But we can get through this. We have gone through crap like this before, and we can go through it again. If we stand together, then we will defeat Kaos and we will restore peace to Skylands once more. Now, who's with me?" At this, no one said anything. "I said, Who's with me?" At this, every Skylander roared as if they had already achieved victory.

Spyro smiled and turned back to Cynder. She smiled at him. Her blue eyes sparkled in the light of the bright sun and made them almost like sapphires. Spyro hugged her. Tears almost spilled out of his eyes, as well as Cynder's eyes.

They hugged for a moment or two, but then were broken up by a growl. Spyro and Cynder whirled around to see at the gates a Death Hound, as well as more trolls and some skeletons.

_This must be the end of the first forces_, thought Cynder. Or maybe it was the beginning of the second forces.

"Why have you come here?" Spyro asked them.

"We have come to end all of you Skylanders!" the Death Hound answered. "I can see that you have ended the first forces. Because of this, the real siege has begun. Welcome to the end!"

Cynder closed her eyes, hoping that all this would end soon. She opened them and stared darkly at the soldiers at the gate.

"Bring it," she said.


End file.
